


Once Upon a Time, We Had it All

by oh_kathryn_my_captain



Category: The Worst Witch (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F, Hecate was a butch lesbian in her school days, Homophobia, Slow Burn, Stargazing, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, Sun/Moon Soulmates, Teenagers, star-crossed lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-17
Updated: 2018-10-20
Packaged: 2019-07-13 11:35:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16017071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oh_kathryn_my_captain/pseuds/oh_kathryn_my_captain
Summary: Hecate makes it to her fifth year before a celebrity transfers to Amulet's Academy from a town in the north. The entire school appears to have fallen in love with the new student, but she only has eyes for Hecate.—Hecate and Pippa were high school sweethearts and these are their adventures.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I am unable to work at one writing project at a time, it appears.
> 
> Title from "Only You" by Cheat Codes and Little Mix. Good Hicsqueak song; good song in general.

It began innocently enough. Hecate had heard Ms. Warren speaking with another teacher while she sat in the corner of the library, as usual, being ignored. After four years of people avoiding eye contact down the halls and walking the other way, she realized she could use that to her advantage. If she were cruel, she could ruin people’s lives with half of the things she’d heard, but despite what they might say about her, Hecate Hardbroom was a gentle soul who had just never been given a chance.

Her face was hidden by a rather large textbook that she wasn’t paying all that much attention to when she first heard the name “Pentangle.”

“Pentangle? As in the oldest witching family in Great Britain?”

Hecate grimaced at the girlish excitement in Ms. Warren’s voice, but continued to listen.

“The very same. Miss Amulet is giving her a tour around the castle as we speak and she is expected to begin classes this coming Monday,” said the other witch.

“What year is she? Do you think she’ll take Magical History?”

“She’s a fifth year and I honestly don’t know, Margaret. Maybe you can find her and talk her into taking your class.”

“That’s a good idea. Where is she?”

“I was kidding. It would be best to give the poor girl her space. The students are already beginning to suspect who she is.”

Hecate couldn’t help but roll her eyes. Of course these old-fashioned witches would make a celebrity out of someone just because of her lineage. Whoever this “Pentangle” is, she must really be pretentious if she thinks she can charm everyone at Amulet’s. There was no way she was going to get preferential treatment; not if Hecate had anything to say about it.

“Yes, you’re right. I don’t know what came over me.”

“Well, it’s not every day we get a celebrity at Amulet’s.”

Ms. Warren’s voice subsided as she and the other teacher went into the hallway.

Unbelievable. They were smitten with a witch they hadn’t even met. Two grown women were so obsessed with ancestry that they idolized a 15 year-old.

Hecate shut the book closed with a _thump_ and stood from the table. She had potions next, and no “celebrity” could ever ruin potions for her. She wouldn’t allow it.

* * *

A week after the incident in the library, Hecate had almost forgotten about the name that was currently being whispered in waves around the corridors and at every lunch table. Today was the Pentangle girl’s first day.

As she filed in with the rest of her class to chanting, she couldn’t help but scan the room for new faces, but she didn’t see any signs of the girl.

Making her way to her seat in the back, she noticed that her desk was occupied by a blonde witch staring at the wall, running her fingers through her hair.

“Excuse me,” said Hecate.

When the girl turned around, Hecate could tell this was the face of the famous Pentangle. What she hadn’t expected was for a member of such a prestigious witching house to be tucked away in a corner.

“That’s my seat.”

The girl jumped up. “Oh, I’m terribly sorry; really, I should’ve asked.”

Hecate raised an eyebrow and sat down without a response, thinking the conversation to be over.

“Is anyone sitting here?” came the squeaky voice once again. When Hecate turned to look at what she was referring to, she was surprised to find her pointing at the desk right next to Hecate.

Through gritted teeth, Hecate muttered, “No.”

“My name’s Pippa, by the way,” she said, organizing her things in her new desk.

Hecate nodded, but turned towards the front of the classroom, trying her best to signal her lack of interest in small talk.

“What’s yours?”

Right on time, Miss Hawthorne stood at the front of class and cleared her throat, silencing the room. “Good, morning class. I assume you’ve all heard about our new student who’s joining us today.” She gestured towards the back of the class. “Miss Pentangle.”

The class broke out into whispers and words of awe as they all turned to get a look at the new student. Pippa, meanwhile, shrunk in her seat.

“Now, I want a volunteer who can show Miss Pentangle some of our Amulet’s hospitality so that she won’t have to be all alone during her first year.”

Pippa looked over to Hecate and Hecate looked back, but the last thing she wanted to do was volunteer as a makeshift friend for a Pentangle. Besides, the rest of the class shot their hands up and several of them were waving around frantically. She would have plenty of girls lining up to be her friend.

“Let’s see… Miss Pentangle, I think you should sit up front with Ursula. You two will get along splendidly.”

With one last look at Hecate, Pippa collected her things and moved once more to a desk at the front of the room, next to Ursula Hallow, the one witch Hecate loathed with her entire being and the only reason why Hecate now felt pity for the new student. If Hecate was the stone cold armor with the soft core, Ursula was the exact opposite. She smiled and charmed her way into being trustworthy, but beneath that lies a wretched gossip and a snake of a human being.

Maybe Hecate should’ve volunteered after all.

* * *

“I’m sure you’ve seen the library, so we don’t need to go see all those boring books, but coming up next is the courtyard and that is where we’ll spend all of our free time together.”

Pippa had already been given a very in-depth tour by Miss Amulet a week ago, but she thought it would have been rude to turn down Ursula’s offer. Although, now that ten minutes had passed, she was starting to tune out, fixating on the stares she was receiving from girls walking by.

At her old school, she had grown up with all the girls in her academy and had known most of them her whole life. Beverly was a small enough town to the point where people paid less attention to who her parents were and more to who she was. London was a different story altogether. Her friends back home knew her as Pippa rather than “Miss Pentangle.” The teachers didn’t call anyone else by their last names; just her.

Before moving, she’d promised herself that she wouldn’t get homesick, but one week in and she was already aching to go back.

It wasn’t that Pippa hated her parents; on the contrary, they were wonderful people. However, the Pentangle name stood for something so very traditional and with her father now working at the London Museum of Witchcraft History, there seemed to be no progress in sight. She loved her parents; they just happened to be stuck in the past. Having a family as old as the Pentangles meant having to stick with tradition and that was the last thing Pippa wanted. Of course, she could never tell her parents, but she practiced little acts of rebellion here and there. Her hair was much shorter than the traditional length, ending in a messy bob just below her earlobes. She also loved the color pink and often wore those pastel ribbons in her hair. Another thing she kept an absolute secret from her parents was the tattoo of the sun she had on her shoulder blade. It was small and she had never shown anyone, but she knew it was there and that was enough.

If she ever went public about her modern ideology, her father might lose his job and the Pentangle name would be tainted, so for the time being, it was all a secret. That didn’t make it any less painful for people to praise her for something she was not.

“So, is there anything you’d like to know about Amulet’s? I can tell you anything you want.”

Pippa was going to insist that she didn’t have any questions, but then something came to her mind. “Yes, actually. Could you tell me who that girl was sitting all the way in the back during our classes?”

Ever since that morning, Pippa had been thinking about the steely witch who seemed unphased by Pippa’s family history. She was surprised when Ursula responded with uproarious laughter.

“You mean Sir Hardbroom? That disaster of a witch?”

Pippa was taken aback. “Sir Hardbroom?”

“Pippa, our first year at Amulet’s, no one could tell if Hecate was a boy or a girl because she kept her hair in such a tight bun. She never wore any makeup, never wore any jewelry, and never spoke to anyone either. The girl wouldn’t know The Code if it bit her on the face. She is no witch I’ve ever seen.”

Ursula’s explanation did nothing to quell Pippa’s curiosity. “But why would you call her Sir?”

“Wasn’t it obvious when you saw her? The girl is a butch.”

Something inside Pippa was set off when she heard those last few words. “Don’t you think it’s a bit rude to call her names?”

Ursula raised her eyebrows. “I thought Pentangles like you upheld The Code.”

“The Code’s got nothing to do with a witch’s appearance.”

With a sly look on her face, Ursula leaned in and whispered, “Hecate has a staff.” She straightened back up again to catch the skeptical expression on Pippa’s face. “That’s against The Code, isn’t it?”

“H—how do you know she’s got a staff?”

“I caught her practicing with it once.”

Pippa was caught between two versions of herself. She wanted to tell Ursula that staffs were for witches just as much as they were for wizards and defend Hecate with a long-winded rant about how The Code was outdated, but she was a Pentangle. She defended The Code, no matter what her own personal feelings were.

“I—I suppose you’re right,” Pippa mumbled.

“You’ll do well to stay as far away from Hecate Hardbroom as you can. She’s nothing but trouble, that one.”

Ursula walked off in the direction of the dining hall and Pippa followed. She knew that a life of obeying rules and following orders was the one set out for her, but she made a decision then and there that if straying from tradition was trouble, then trouble was what she’d be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have lots of plans for this fic. It will be lengthy and it will be gay.
> 
> Also, Ursula Hallow is always the villain because that's just life, I guess.


	2. Chapter 2

The excitement over Pippa’s presence at Amulet’s Academy died down within the following week, although not by much. Teachers were still gawking like school girls while the school girls flocked to Pippa every chance they got. Hecate was trying to ignore it, but it was becoming impossible. So she did what she did best—hid behind a book and focused all of her effort into her studies. Maybe one day, the school could go back to the quiet, uneventful academic environment it had been only days before.

Right before lunch, the girls had astronomy, but Hecate had never paid much attention in astronomy. She’d studied the stars for as long as she could remember and could name her favorite ones by sight. It had been her solace when the loneliness felt unbearable. After sunset on the days when she felt every side-eyed glare like a stab in the gut, the stars were always there. She could rely on them.

“Don’t forget about the viewing party at the end of the week,” said Miss Montague.

Hecate snapped to attention and let a hidden smile play on her lips. Viewing parties were one of the only social events she allowed herself to attend and the only thing she looked forward to each month.

“Miss Amulet has given me permission to take you all out into the courtyard at 22:00 to watch the meteor shower on Friday. I hope to see you all there!”

Most of the class couldn’t care less about a meteor shower and Miss Montague’s words of farewell were drowned out by the groans of 30 chairs being pushed in as the students rushed out of the room.

In the clamor of lunchtime, Hecate spotted a little pink bow and watched Pippa walk with Ursula, shoulder to shoulder until they came upon their usual spot near the front of the dining hall. Hecate tried not to notice how Pippa always smiled when Ursula spoke and followed her around wherever she went. No matter what her preconceived notions were about Pippa, she couldn’t imagine Ursula was a good influence. The other girls at Ursula’s table were just like her and it made perfect sense for them to hang around, but Pippa… She may have the antiquated views that Hecate loathes, but she was no tyrant.

Sparkling brown eyes caught hers and in an instant, Hecate realized she had been staring. She snapped away from looking at the blonde witch and focused on her meal, trying to think about anything else.

* * *

The only way Pippa could stand to be around Ursula was if she tuned her out every now and then. It was a tactic she had devised from her early days of modern philosophy and how she could live with her parents who never seemed to go a day without exemplifying how traditional they were. She didn’t blame Ursula because the majority of the witching world was exactly the same way. Even if she wanted to stop being friends with Ursula, she wasn’t so sure that would make the circumstances any better. At this point, she was behaving more like a fangirl than a friend and Pippa shuddered to think at how Ursula would act if they were no longer friends.

“Who would ever want to look at falling debris for entertainment?” she heard Ursula say distantly. The girls at the table roared with laughter. They were still on about the viewing party, it seemed.

Pippa looked over to the wall, trying to disassociate herself from the conversation. She caught eyes with a witch sitting alone and realized she was looking at Hecate, who quickly averted her gaze.

“Don’t you think, Pippa?”

Pippa came back to attention, but a second too late. Ursula turned to see what she had been looking at, and if she saw that it was Hecate, she didn’t say a word.

“I suppose so,” said Pippa.

“Well, you’re not going, are you?”

She had very much planned on going. Astronomy had always been her favorite class, but she wasn’t about to admit that.

“N–no.”

A look of satisfaction crossed Ursula’s face. She always seemed to enjoy it when people bent to her authority.

“Good. Astronomy is barely considered a magical subject anyways. I don’t know why Miss Amulet is allowing it in the curriculum.”

It was clear that Ursula thought her knowledge on tradition was impressive. She kept puffing out her chest and straightening up every time she insulted a modern element of witchcraft, but Pippa maintained her composure and put on a pretty face.

While Ursula changed the subject to how subpar the food was, Pippa stole another glance at Hecate. In a school where tradition was valued above all else and the teachers recited The Code every chance they got, Hecate decided to be herself, even if it meant sitting alone at lunch. Courage was the only word Pippa could think of to describe it, and she felt her heart drop when she realized that she would never be as brave as Hecate Hardbroom.

* * *

The week was almost at its end and Pippa had lost count of the times she was called to the front of the class for an impromptu presentation on whatever subject she was in at the time. Even when her hand wasn’t raised, she was called on to give the answer. Of course, she was well-read and could answer whatever question was posed to her, earning her all the more praise and adoration from the school. It had barely been a month and she was already making top marks in her class, putting her ahead of Ursula Hallow. It wasn’t as if Ursula minded, though, and even if she did, she wouldn’t dare speak ill of her idol. 

She and Ursula were sitting with the rest of their friends in the courtyard when the Deputy Headmistress, Miss Hawthorne, walked up and cleared her throat. “Pardon me girls, but Pippa, I just received a call from your father. He said your familiar has just arrived with a transport from Beverly.”

“Murdock!” squealed Pippa.

“Yes, he’s been transferred to Miss Amulet’s office and we can go get him now, if you’d like.”

Pippa sprang up out of her seat and followed Miss Hawthorne through the corridors until they reached a door with an intricately-shaped door plate that read “Headmistress.” As soon as the door opened, Pippa was overwhelmed by a whirl of feathers and chirping. She giggle and tried to fend off her familiar, but she had missed him too.

“I must say, I have never seen an owl as a familiar before, but the creature does seem...fond of you,” said Miss Hawthorne.

The small, stark white bird settled after his initial excitement at seeing Pippa again and landed on her right shoulder. His red eyes focused on the branches of a tree swaying outside by the window.

“Murdock has been with me all throughout school, Miss Hawthorne. I saw him at the shops and I knew I just had to have him. I begged my mum and dad for hours before they agreed.”

“I should say so. An owl is certainly an...unconventional familiar. Especially one with his coloration.”

Miss Hawthorne was walking on eggshells trying not to insult Pippa, but she couldn’t bring herself to care about what people thought of Murdock. She loved him with all of her heart and the day she saw his white feathers mixed in with all of the brown and tawny, she knew they had a lot in common.

Pippa made her way back to the courtyard with Murdock steady on her shoulder save for the occasional stretch of his wings. If she thought she got stared at before, that was nothing compared to the looks when she strode out with an albino owl hooting intermittently.

“What on earth?” exclaimed Ursula.

“Ursula, this is my familiar, Murdock,” Pippa said, puffing out her chest.

“He’s...unusual, but rather cute.”

Pippa smiled at that. Despite their disagreements, at least Ursula could see far enough past her own broomstick to understand Murdock.

* * *

Hecate never spent her free time in the courtyard and avoided it at all costs, but she didn’t feel like taking the long way to the library again today. She was minding her business as usual, avoiding eye contact with anyone when she noticed a flash of white from the corner of her eye. She was surprised to see a small white owl perched on the arm of Pippa Pentangle which was understandably causing quite the stir. Hecate couldn’t help but wonder why a Pentangle would have an owl as a familiar, let alone a white one. From what she’d read on the old witching families of Britain, every single one of them had black cats for their entire lives. Once, she knew of a girl who said her old school let them have rabbits, but that was as far as the rules stretched. Hecate scoffed. It made sense that Pippa had an owl; that way, she could be the center of attention. Not much in the way of tradition, but it sure made her intriguing to the other girls, more so than when she had just been a celebrity.

Hecate found her spot in the corner of the library and opened a book on advanced potions, but she couldn’t make it past the first page as she kept having to reread the lines that she wasn’t paying attention to. At least she had made it to Friday. Tonight was the viewing party, and she was sure she could take her leave of Pippa then.


	3. Chapter 3

Hecate laid out her blanket in the grass several meters away from the closest group of sniggering girls. She got settled and rested her head on her bundled up cloak, not wanting to miss a single meteor. The peak of the shower wasn’t for another 30 minutes or so, but there were still plenty of meteors to watch during the wait.

As if on cue, a streak of white light crossed the night sky. Hecate smiled to herself. The unappreciative chatter of the girls around her was drowned out; the images of trees and castle walls vanished and she felt like she was floating in a beautiful void. No one could hurt her, no one could tease her; she could just be herself here. 

“Sorry to bother you,” came a voice that made Hecate jump out of her happy place. She found herself looking at Pippa Pentangle—the last person she expected to come to a viewing party. “I forgot to bring a blanket and all the rest are full.”

It was unbelievable. The only escape Hecate had from Pippa—the one thing she had been looking forward to all week—was being invaded. 

“Do you mind if I sit with you?”

Hecate most certainly did mind. By now, Ursula would’ve had her influence and Pippa would’ve heard all the gory details about Hecate’s personal life. No one could ever face spending time with Hecate once they caught wind of the tales that spilled so freely from Ursula’s big mouth, but now here she was, asking for it. 

“Where are you friends?” asked Hecate with a note of suspicion she didn’t bother hiding. 

Pippa didn’t appear to be expecting that question and played with the pleats of her dress while she answered. “They don’t know I’m here. I don’t think they like astronomy all that much.”

“And you do?”

Pippa nodded and smiled. 

The whole thing confused Hecate, but with a furrowed brow and an awkward scoot on the blanket, she invited Pippa to lay with her. 

Pippa left plenty of space between them since the blanket was big enough, so Hecate resumes her previous position, looking up at the black sky, knowing that Pippa was looking too. 

“I didn’t know people like you were interested in astronomy,” Hecate couldn’t help but comment. 

“People like me?” Pippa asked. 

“Traditional.”

“I don’t think my parents like it, but I have always loved learning about stars.”

Neither witch took their eyes away from the sky, but they continued to speak. 

“My parents have never liked astronomy either,” said Hecate with a twinge of sadness that did not go unnoticed. 

“Are they...traditional?”

“I suppose.”

A moment of silence passed before Pippa worked up the courage to ask her next question. 

“What do they think about...you?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean—Ursula told me about you.”

It wasn’t at all shocking, but Hecate feigned interest. “Oh? What, pray tell, did she say?”

She noticed the way Pippa squirmed and smirked a little. It was always amusing when people tried to confront Hecate about the rumors. 

“She said that—that you were gay.”

Hecate couldn’t help but chuckle. “Well, do you believe her?”

“I—I don’t suppose I thought about that.”

“You can’t believe everything you hear, Pippa, especially not from Ursula Hallow.”

Another meteor streaked across the sky and a collective gasp sounded across the clearing. It grew quieter as the meteors fell closer and closer together. 

“So you’re not?” said Pippa. 

“Not what?”

“Gay.”

Interesting. No one had ever bothered to ask her about it before, they just assumed they knew everything about Hecate by the way she dressed and acted. 

“I am.”

“But, I thought you said—”

“I only meant that I know what sort of things Ursula says about me and you can’t believe every word of it.”

“So, what she said about the staff…”

“I’ve never had a staff in my life.”

Pippa puzzled over Ursula’s apparent hatred for Hecate. It seemed as though Ursula had it out for Hecate and would do anything to make sure she was isolated in any way possible. It didn’t make sense why someone would be so cruel without the slightest hint of a motivation. 

Pippa caught a glimpse of a meteor again. 

“What do you think of when you look up there?” she asked. It was an intimate question for perfect strangers, but she felt she had to ask it. 

Hecate’s answer had been in the making for years and fell out of her mouth with ease. “I think about how the stars would never judge me like the earth does and it would be so much better to be out there, floating in a void than where I am now.” She heard Pippa turn her head on the blanket to look at her, but didn’t take her own eyes off of the night sky.

“I feel like that too, sometimes.”

Hecate couldn’t help but laugh. “You and I are nothing alike, Pippa Pentangle. You are like the sun; you’re the brightest star whom everyone adores, and I am the moon—hidden away in the shadows of the night and you can only see me if you are really paying attention.” She finished off with a nod towards a sliver of the glowing crescent hidden behind a group of branches. When she didn’t hear a response from Pippa, she continued. “You know, I’m not a fool. If Ursula Hallow has told you all about my supposed wizard’s staff then she has, no doubt, told you to stay away from me. What are you doing here?”

Another meteor cut into the pitch-black veil. Then another.

There was no reason for Pippa to feel obligated to answer such a question, but she felt like Hecate was the only person she’d ever met who would be willing to listen to what she had to say. They barely knew each other, but there was a trust that had never existed in any of her other relationships in Beverly—a trust between two outcasts.

“I’m not what everyone thinks I am,” she said. “You said that we’re nothing alike, but you are so very wrong.”

For a fleeting moment, Hecate’s heart raced. She thought Pippa was going to say she was gay too, but as Pippa began to elaborate her senses returned to her and she calmed herself.

“I’ve read every book you can imagine on modern witching. I love it. My parents...they would never understand. My father’s job at the museum depends on the reputation of his family being pure-bred traditionalists and I could never tell anyone about this.” Pippa looked over at Hecate and this time, Hecate looked back. Her brown eyes were pleading and there was a sadness there that Hecate couldn’t name. “I sometimes think I’ll have to live out the rest of my life as someone I’m not.”

A chorus of ooh’s and ah’s sounded across the clearing, calling their attention back up to the meteor shower. The streaks of light were now passing by every few minutes. Hecate should be focused on the meteors, but her mind kept wandering back to Pippa. She’d spent five years at Amulet’s thinking she would always be alone in her ways of thinking, and now she’d been proven wrong by the witch she least expected. The cynical side of her was being drowned out by the years of loneliness, lying on her blanket at viewing parties and sitting at desks in the far corners of every room. She’d always pretending that she didn’t need anyone else, but she was only human. It’s been too long since she could truly talk to someone and something deep within her core ached to be heard and understood. Now, she supposed, Pippa felt the same way.

“I doubt that,” Hecate muttered.

“Pardon?”

“None of us can go against our nature. I suspect you’ll find some way of expressing yourself, even if you have to wait until you’re an adult.”

Pippa smiled to herself. She would never tell Hecate this, but she was already starting to admire her. Hecate was everything she could ever hope to be as a witch. What she did, staying true to her values, far exceeded any amount of courage Pippa had ever had, but if Hecate believed she could one day be her true self, then that was all she needed.


	4. Chapter 4

At the back of Hecate’s mind as she had packed up and left the clearing that night, she wondered if Pippa might decide to spend time with her instead of Ursula, but with a pang of sadness, she knew that Pippa couldn’t be Hecate’s friend and keep her reputation at the same time. She was right, of course, and Hecate understood why, but that didn’t stop her from holding on to her chimera. On Monday, Pippa was acting as though she’d never spent the night stargazing with Hecate and continued to be inseparable from Ursula. Nothing had changed; nothing ever did.

Hecate gulped down her lunch and made her escape from the dining hall. She kept looking over at Pippa, and that wasn’t doing anything for her emotional state. It was just her luck that the universe would give her someone she could talk to, only to make sure she was just out of reach. 

She took out her quill and some parchment to write her essay on the persecution of witches in The Netherlands that Ms. Warren had assigned. What she wasn’t expecting was for a white ball of feathers to plop down in the middle of her parchment after she had just written her introductory paragraph. Hecate found herself looking into the piercing red eyes of Pippa’s familiar. Murdock stretched his wings and hooted when Hecate tried to reclaim her parchment, but he didn’t move. Hecate sighed. 

“I don’t suppose there’s any way I could convince you to get off, is there?”

Murdock tilted his head, but stood his ground. 

“Alright. What do you want?”

The owl turned his head around towards the propped-open door and that was when Hecate heard footsteps coming from down the hall. Pippa appeared in the doorframe and Hecate immediately averted her gaze. 

“Murdock! There you are,” exclaimed Pippa as she ran up to the table and picked up her owl from Hecate’s parchment, leaving little black footprints from the ink that had gotten onto his talons. “Sorry about that,” she said. 

“No need to apologize. I wasn’t particularly interested in writing that essay anyways.”

Hecate began to blot the ink on her parchment, thinking Pippa had walked away, but then she heard the chair across from her being pulled out and saw Pippa sitting down with her familiar in her lap.

“Is there something I can help you with?” said Hecate.

“Um, no,” said Pippa who was looking more than a little confused.

Meanwhile, Hecate was growing irritated, but she lowered her voice so that no one could overhear them. “Don’t you have friends to get back to in the dining hall?” She didn’t mean to be rude, but it was increasingly frustrating to have accepted that she could never be friends with Pippa, only to have her follow her around like a lost familiar. It was too painful.

“I—I was hoping that I had a friend here.”

Hecate sighed. “Look, Pentangle, I know you find me captivating, and last Friday was...enjoyable, but you can’t live a double life. Believe me, it just never works out. Somewhere along the line, you’ll be forced to make a choice and that is not a position you want to be trapped in.”

There was a story behind every word Hecate was saying, but Pippa knew now was hardly the proper time to ask about it. 

“So you’d prefer to just...never speak to each other again?” Pippa asked incredulously. 

“It’s not about what I prefer. Look at me; I’m just the tall butch who rolls up her sleeves and frightens everybody off with a mere glance in their direction. No one would be foolish enough to be seen with me, least of all a Pentangle. This isn’t the way I want it to be, Pippa; it just is.”

Pippa ran her fingers over Murdock’s silky feathers and nodded slowly. She stood up, with an expression that Hecate couldn’t read and said, “See you around, Hecate.”

She would be lying if she said it didn’t hurt to watch Pippa sulk out of the room, and she knew it hurt Pippa too, but this was the way she had lived for almost five years. She was used to being alone. If they were to become friends, Hecate would just get in the way. 

The rest of the week was no less disappointing. Pippa kept catching her eye, looking as if she were waiting for Hecate to change her mind, but then the awkward glances tapered off into ignoring each other all together. Hecate brushed it off and insisted that it was for the best. 

She didn’t leave her room that weekend, keeping herself occupied by reading spell books and casting charms lazily from her bed. Her concentration had returned to her after being unable to make her desk chair levitate for an hour and now it was hovering over her desk. She added a book on top, then another, and another. Allowing herself to feel a sense of pride, she sat a fourth and final book on the stack, but then she heard a tap at her window and the books went flying while the chair came crashing to the ground, causing her black cat, Luna, to yowl and hide under the bed.

“What on earth?”

Drawing the curtains open with a wave of her hand, she jumped out of bed and investigated the source of the sound, only to find herself once again looking into the big, round eyes of Pippa’s familiar. She was about to shoo him off when she heard another knock, this time, at her door. Interesting. No one had ever visited her room before.

She walked over to the door, expecting someone to be in the wrong place of maybe even playing a prank, but she saw only Pippa, looking rather surprised.

“Hecate?”

“Were you expecting someone else?”

“Well, I didn’t know who lived here, I just came to get Murdock since he wouldn’t come down when I called.”

If Hecate didn’t know any better, she would think Pippa had trained the bird to fly off so that they would have to interact. Nevertheless, she opened the door all the way, inviting Pippa in and realizing too late that her room was still a mess from her earlier attempt at levitation. She waved a hand and the books flew back onto the bookshelf and her chair slid back under her desk.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what happened?” said Pippa.

“Your owl gave me a fright when I was practicing my spells,” Hecate huffed.

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Just try to keep him under control.”

Hecate unlocked the window and opened it, greeted by a rush of white feathers as Murdock flew to her head. She heard Pippa burt into a fit of laughter, so Hecate glared at her with her arms crossed.

“I fail to see what’s so amusing,” she said.

“It’s just that, I—I think he likes you.”

When Hecate remained stoic, unconvinced that there was any humor in the situation, Pippa reached above her and took Murdock in her hands. That was when she noticed a line of animal figurines on Hecate’s bookshelf.

“You have Familiar Figurines?” she gasped. She didn’t give Hecate enough time to answer before she continued. “And you have such a great collection too! My parents only let me get the black cat.” Pippa moved closer to the shelf to get a better look at the figures. After a moment of appreciating each one from the hare to the stag, she whirled around back to Hecate, who hadn’t moved an inch.

“Do you know the spells?”

Hecate couldn’t pretend not to know what she was talking about. Part of the charm of the little creatures was that each animal came with a different spell to animate them. Of course, Hecate knew each of the spells by heart, but she wasn’t sure her magic would be reliable, especially in present company. Besides, Pippa shouldn’t even be here.

“I—um...yes,” she said even though she immediately regretted it when Pippa squealed with excitement.

“Oh, Hecate, you have to show me one! Please, just one!”

As if someone could’ve sneaked into her room through a closed door, Hecate checked to make sure no one else was watching and despite all the reasons she had for not doing so, she concentrated on the figurine of a shiny friesian unicorn and twirled her fingers until a stream of silver, glittering magic came out. Her magic found its way to the bookshelf, and as soon as it made contact, the figure reared up on its hind legs and tossed its long, wavy mane. In a cloud of silver, it came trotting off the shelf and floated in midair, making circles around Pippa to her delight and Murdock’s bemusement. 

Hecate was relieved that everything appeared to be going well, unlike when she was using magic before, but then, in a lapse of concentration as she caught a glance at Pippa’s smile, the unicorn charged, forcing Pippa to duck to avoid it. The strand of magic broke and Hecate watched her figurine slam into the wall and fall to the ground. She looked back at Pippa, her eyes widened, horrified at what she had done.

“I’m so sorry,” she said, her voice breaking.

Though Pippa was obviously rattled, she didn’t hesitate to put Hecate’s mind at ease. “It’s all right. I never got that good at enchanting those little devils.”

Hecate fell back onto her bed. Pippa just didn’t understand. Hecate’s magic had always been volatile, but she thought she’d gotten past the point of it being a danger to others. This just proves that she can’t trust herself; she’ll hurt anybody who gets close enough.

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn’t realize Pippa had left Murdock perched on her chair to sit next to her on her bed. Pippa placed her arm around Hecate, but didn’t try to say anything else. It was obvious that whatever had just happened, it was very personal for Hecate, so she wouldn’t try to make any guesses. 

Hecate found herself leaning into the embrace and she didn’t even try to fight it. Before she knew it, she was telling Pippa all about her troubled past with magic. 

“I’ve never been able to keep total control over my powers. My mother got me a tutor and said that would help, but…”

There was nothing Pippa could say. She hadn’t realized that magic could cause one person such turmoil. Then her mind turned to a book she’d read recently. 

“You know, I read somewhere that you can balance someone’s magic by casting a spell. It only works for a day or so, but maybe that would help.”

Hecate sat up and furrowed her brows at Pippa. “I thought it was against The Code to interfere with another witch’s magic,” she sniffed.

Pippa shrugged. “I don’t think it’s an interference spell, per se. It’s more of a...boost.”

Hecate thought for a moment and then lowered her voice as if someone were eavesdropping. “Do you know the spell?”

“Not well enough to cast it.” Noticing the way Hecate’s face fell, she quickly amended her statement. “I could learn. I could help you.”

“Why are you so insistent that we become friends, Miss Pentangle?”

“Because I happen to find you charming and I do believe that it is my choice when, where, and how I decide to risk my reputation as a Pentangle.”

Hecate smiled. “You are incorrigible.”

“I know.” With that, she stood up and bounced out of Hecate’s room into the hallway, promising to practice the spell before they saw each other again.


End file.
